WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley is returning to the WWE NXT ring.
As seen in the video below, Lyra Valkyria interrupted Byron Saxton’s post-RAW interview with Ripley and said instead of proving herself to Ripley by beating Jacy Jayne, she wants to show Ripley first-hand, one-on-one. Ripley went on about how she runs the women’s division across all brands, and asked Valkyria if she thinks this match is smart. Valkyria replied, “Hell yeah.”
WWE then confirmed Ripley vs. Valkyria in a non-title match for this week’s NXT. This will be Ripley’s first NXT match since defeating Roxanne Perez on the October 18, 2022 episode.
Ripley vs. Valkyria is happening after Ripley appeared in a backstage segment with Valkyria and Jayne on the recent NXT Gold Rush Week 2 episode. The segment ended with Valkyria knocking Jayne down and warning her that she does not play games. Ripley then told Jayne she kind of deserved it, and said Valkyria is a badass. This led to Valkyria defeating Jayne on the Independence Day NXT show,, but Jayne laid her out in the post-match attack. Two weeks later on July 18, Ripley told Valkyria how she was telling everyone that Valkyria was a badass, only for Valkyria to go and get beat up by Jayne. Ripley asked if she was wrong about Valkyria, and Lyra said no, promising that she will prove it the next time she steps in the ring with Jayne. The next interaction in the storyline was the aforementioned post-RAW segment, which you can also see below.
WWE previously announced that Ripley and new NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio will kick off this week’s broadcast.
Below is the updated card for this week’s NXT, along with the post-RAW video:
* The go-home build for The Great American Bash
* NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio and WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley will kick off the broadcast
* Gable Steveson will announce a decision on his future
* Dana Brooke vs. Cora Jade in a Kendo Stick match
* WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Lyra Valkyria in a non-title match
* NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams and Ilja Dragunov vs. Joe Gacy, Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1683683197064732675
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